Employees there broke the news to her: Her cat, a Russian blue, had been euthanized that day.

Richard DeSantis, 56, was arrested Saturday and was charged with criminal mischief, criminal possession of stolen property and making a punishable false written statement, police said. He was issued a desk appearance ticket and will be arraigned June 5.

DeSantis, reached by telephone at his home Sunday, said there are two sides to every story and then hung up.

Police said an investigation found DeSantis had captured the cat and dropped it off at the shelter to be killed.